His Grace Bishop Iachint of the Pacific, Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand, emphasised that Christ can become either a “stumbling block” or the “firm foundation” of our lives, depending on how we receive and fulfil the word of God.
Bishop Iachint celebrated the Divine Liturgy on Sunday at the Life-Giving Spring Monastery and Diocesan Residence in Melbourne, Australia.
The hierarch spoke about the Christian’s responsibility to fulfil the will of the Lord and bear the fruits of faith, highlighting God’s patience and love.
The foundation stone
Bishop Iachint explained the words of the Saviour from the Gospel reading for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost: “Whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”
“Christ is like a stone in our own day as well: when we stumble over the word of the Gospel, when the message of the Church becomes uncomfortable, when Christ challenges us. We stumble over Him because we are accustomed to following a path from which the Lord, at a certain point, wants to turn us away. The word of God appears in our conscience as a stone against which we strike.”
Bishop Iachint of the Pacific emphasised that those who do God’s will experience Him as the foundation stone of their path.
“If we are not with God, that stone becomes an obstacle. But if we carry His word in our hearts and walk on the path of salvation, then we will see it as a firm foundation upon which we build our lives, upon which we live out our existence and seek to build within our souls the Kingdom of God, the love He offers us with such patience,” the bishop added.
“Blessed are those who succeed in seeing Christ as a firm foundation and as the direction of their lives. For there is no moment when we cannot turn to God and find answers.”
God’s patience
Bishop Iachint highlighted God’s patience, through which He gives people countless opportunities to return to Him.
“How many times is the Lord patient with us as well, giving us another chance once, twice, three times, to the point that we can no longer even count the opportunities He gives us to mend our ways.”
“And I hope that, unlike the wicked tenants, we will not regard these as failures and missed opportunities for salvation, but will receive them with a stirring of the heart and an awakening of conscience, and from this day forward labour faithfully in the Lord’s vineyard,” Bishop Iachint urged.
Photo: Diocese of Australia and New Zealand
